WINTER HAVEN, Fla.- The University of Northwestern continued their Spring Break trip to Florida on Saturday with their second consecutive day with a double header. After opening their trip with a doubleheader sweep on Friday, the Eagles competed against Dominican University and the University of Dubuque on Saturday. UNW fell to Dominican 5-3, and dropped the contest to Dubuque 13-6.
Game One
The Eagles played a very strong game in their first game on Saturday, they just were not able to overcome a big first inning deficit. Dominican came out with their bats on fire in the first inning against UNW, scoring four opening frame runs. A two run single was the big hit in the inning for Dominican.
Trailing 4-0 after the first three innings of the contest, it was the Eagles' turn to put together a big inning in the fourth.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) got the Eagles on the board by ripping an RBI double that scored
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo).
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) would then hit a ball to centerfield and an error by the Dominican centerfielder scored Bentley along with
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist). The Eagles only trailed by a single run after the fourth inning rally.
However, the Eagles would not get another runner across the plate, and Dominican would add an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning which would bring us to our final score of 5-3 in favor of Dominican University.
Grace Bentley (Omaha, Neb./Wheaton College) had two hits in the game including her RBI double.
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) was in the circle for the Eagles, pitching all seven innings and collecting six strikeouts in the contest.
Game Two
In game two of the day, the Eagles' offense would continue to find its groove. UNW started the scoring in the top of the first inning when
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) was able to score off of a wild pitch. The Eagles took an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the opening frame, the Spartans from the University of Dubuque would immediately answer the Eagles' opening shot. A two run homerun in the bottom of the first inning would see Dubuque take its first lead of the contest.
The game would continue its "teeter totter" like trend in the top half of the second inning when the Eagles would immediately claim the lead back by scoring two more runs of their own. The go ahead runs would come off of the bat of
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake), who laced a single to centerfield scoring
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) and
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot). UNW would pitch the game's first scoreless frame of the game in the bottom of the second and would take a 3-2 lead to the third inning.
In the third inning, the Eagles' offensive onslaught would continue.
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) and
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) would score off of an RBI double from
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) and the Eagles had a 5-2 lead entering the bottom of the third inning. In the bottom half of the third, Dubuque would chip into their deficit by scoring two runs, but the Eagles still clung to a 5-4 lead entering the fourth inning.
In the fourth inning, the Eagles scored once again making it four straight innings with a run to open the game. This time it was
Ally Ehnstrom (Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin) hitting a ball to second base where it was misplayed, allowing
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) to score to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead.
However, after the top half of the fourth, the Spartans found their rhythm both in the circle and at the plate. Dubuque's offense would explode for three runs in the fourth, five runs in the fifth, and another run in the sixth. Meanwhile, their pitching staff finally figured out the Eagles' hot-swinging offense and held them scoreless over the last three frames. The Spartans would defeat the Eagles 13-6.
Megan Lundt (Frisco, Texas/Central Methodist) had three hits and two RBIs to lead the Eagles' offense.
Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) and
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) also had two hits apiece for UNW, while
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) had one hit and two RBIs in the game.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) would pitch four innings for UNW while
Jenna Nusbaum (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) picked up two strikeouts in her two innings of relief.
Up Next
The Eagles will have a day off on Sunday after competing in four games in two days to open their Florida trip. On Monday, March 6
th the Eagles will play a single game against the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and a single game against Bluffton University.
